Case Number 20408

UNITED STATES OF TARA: THE SECOND SEASON

The Charge

One woman. Divided.

Opening Statement

"I've never done anything except be good to you!"

Facts of the Case

Tara Gregson (Toni Collette, In Her Shoes) has suffered from
dissociative identity disorder for many years. An ordinary wife and mother of
two in her "regular" life, Tara occasionally transforms into a series
of colorful "alters": the macho Buck, the prim and proper Alice, the
trashy teenager T, and (most recently) the feral Gimme. At the end of United
States of Tara's first season, Tara confronted a dark moment in her past and
made a significant breakthrough. As the second season begins, Tara has gone
several months without "turning." Just as it seems when she might be
cured of her affliction, Buck re-emerges and begins conducting a passionate
affair with a local bartender (Joey Lauren Adams, ExTerminators). This
turn of events finally causes Tara's easy-going husband Max (John Corbett,
Ramona and Beezus) to seriously contemplate whether he can stand being
Tara's spouse much longer.

Meanwhile, Tara and Max's teenage children are having struggles of their
own. Marshall (Keir Gilchrist, Dead Silence) is still coming to terms
with his homosexual inclinations, attempting to figure out who he is and how to
categorize his complex personality. Kate (Brie Larson, Scott Pilgrim vs. the
World) has just taken a new job as a debt collector, which introduces her to
a local artist named Lynda (Viola Davis, Doubt). With Lynda's
encouragement, Kate finds herself dressing up as a comic book princess and
finding a new form of empowerment in the process.

Tara's sister Charlotte (Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married) is
also in the middle of some surprising developments. First, she gets engaged to
her hunky boyfriend Nick (Matthew Del Negro, The Sopranos). Second, she
learns that's she's going to have a baby. Third, she discovers that the baby
actually belongs to her old pal Neil (Patton Oswalt, Ratatouille). Some
difficult decisions are inevitably just around the corner.

All twelve episodes of United States of Tara: The Second Season are
spread across two discs:

Disc Two * "Dept. of F'd Up Family Services" * "Explosive
Diorama" * "Family Portrait" * "Open House" * "To Have and to
Hold" * "From This Day Forward"

The Evidence

In my review of United States of Tara: The First Season, I noted that
it was a solid program with room for improvement. While United States of
Tara still isn't quite good enough to be regarded as one of the very best
shows on television, some very impressive fine-tuning was done between the first
and second season. Almost all of the small problems of the first season have
been corrected while the strengths have been impressively retained.

Let's begin with Tara's alters, the show's central gimmick and biggest
problem area. While Collette is impressively versatile in her portrayal of these
assorted alter egos, the alters themselves tend to be a little thin and
one-dimensional. Season two addresses this issue in two significant ways. First,
the alters aren't given quite as much screen time as they were in the previous
season. This both amplifies the effect when the alters appear and gives the far
more nuanced Tara a greater opportunity to shine. Second, the alters that do
appear actually seem to be a bit more complex this time around (including a
brand-new alter that demonstrates a bit more dramatic potential than the
others), particularly the gruff Buck.

The show takes great strides in developing the character of Max this season,
too. While Corbett's performance has been solid from day one, Max seemed a bit
too passive and cheerful during the show's first season. Surely living with Tara
could grow frustrating at times, but Max rarely demonstrated the slightest
glimmer of irritation. In season two, he's finally starting to crack. Max has
been displaying self-control and kindness for so long that it's all starting to
boil over. Watching him begin to melt under the stress is immensely compelling,
and Corbett offers some darker shades in his fine performance.

United States of Tara is also noteworthy for how well it writes its
teenage characters. Countless shows struggle when it comes to developing
teenagers; many of them should take some notes from this program. In particular,
Keir Gilchrist continues to do superb work as the conflicted Marshall. His pal
Lionel (Michael J. Willet, Cougar Town) attempts to make Marshall a part
of the high school's flamboyant gay clique, but Marshall finds himself
uncomfortable in this setting. "All you ever talk about is sex and
asses," Marshall snaps at Lionel. "You make being gay something nobody
would ever want to be." Marshall, a lover of great literature and
black-and-white movies, grows immensely depressed when confronted with the
falsehood that being gay means embracing bitchy superficiality.

The DVD transfer is decent enough, though detail is lacking at times during
long shots. Audio is similarly adequate, offering a clean, crisp,
dialogue-driven track to satisfying effect. Extras are limited to a handful of
very brief cast interviews and some text-based cast bios.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Some intriguing new supporting characters are introduced in this season, but
their storylines meander and then disappointingly fizzle out. Michael Hitchcock
(Men of a Certain Age) and Sammy Sheik (Charlie Wilson's War) turn
up as the Gregson's gay neighbors, have some good scenes and then simply
disappear. Similarly, the initially compelling Viola Davis character is
increasingly marginalized and finally pushed out by the time the season
concludes. For all the great work done with the principle characters, some
additional attention should have been put into developing this season's guest
stars.

Closing Statement

A good show gets even better in its second season. Unless Tara's alters were
your favorite element of the first season, I think you'll be quite pleased with
the fine-tuning that's been done.